Infant perception and categorization of object-context relations

In two experiments infants' attention to and use of object (figure) and context (ground) relations were investigated. Experiment 1 used a habituation-categorization procedure. Infants categorized animals and vehicles when placed in congruent object-context relations (e.g., animals in fields, vehicles on streets) but not in incongruent object-context relations (e.g., animals on streets, vehicles in fields). Experiment 2 used an eye tracking paradigm. When viewing animals, infants looked more to animals than their contexts when the object-context relations were congruent, but they looked equally to the animals and contexts when the object-context relations were incongruent. Infants, however, looked more to vehicles than their contexts whether vehicles were placed in congruent or incongruent object-context relations. Object-context relations play a role in infants' categorization, and infants process natural kinds and designed artifacts differently.